EOAS hosted American science-comedian Ben Miller on November 5th for a whirlwind, 24-hour visit. Miller has performed in Victoria and Toronto before (and even in Benmiller, Ontario), but this was his first chance to visit Vancouver and meet the EOAS community. The city greeted him with steady rain, warm crowds, and excellent sushi squeezed in just before his flight home. 

Miller started his visit with lunch on campus with four EOAS graduate students. The group discussed his path from engineering to full-time comedy, his approach to science communication, and the process of shaping complex scientific ideas into accessible, humorous material. Students were particularly interested in how he balances scientific accuracy with storytelling, and how he handles challenging audiences—an experience familiar to any researcher presenting their work.

After lunch, Miller spent a few hours exploring campus and particularly enjoyed the Museum of Anthropology before heading to the Earth Sciences Building for the evening performance. The show sold out, with extra hopefuls gathered in the lobby in case there were any no-shows. EOAS professor Brett Gilley opened the event before Miller took the stage for his one-hour set, Volcano.

Volcano is Miller’s second full-length science-comedy show, developed after he served as the Artist in Residence at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in 2023—the first stand-up comedian ever selected for that role. During his residency, he learned about the science, history, and cultural significance of Hawai’i’s volcanoes, and transformed those experiences into a show that blends accurate geoscience with approachable comedy. The EOAS audience responded accordingly with “explosive” laughter throughout the performance.

Ben Miller’s Volcano show uses humour to make complex geoscience accessible, and EOAS was thrilled to host an evening that celebrated both scientific curiosity and the value of creative communication. We want to make this an annual event. If you have earth-science inspired comedians that you would love to see grace the halls of ESB next year, please reach out to the EOAS communications team via socialmedia@eoas.ubc.ca.